Third Mississippi online poker bill introduced

Legislation that would legalise online poker in Mississippi has been put forward for the third time in four years.

The Mississippi Lawful Internet Gaming Act of 2015 is a 74-page document which would allow the state to enter into agreements with other jurisdictions to share player liquidity.

The sharing of player liquidity would include other states, tribal governments and foreign states.

State representative Bobby Moak was unsuccessful in his attempts to have an online poker bill passed in 2012 and 2013 after failing to gain enough support.

A comprehensive study was carried out by the state last year by a chair of committee experts appointed by Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the results of which are yet to be revealed, but Godfrey has stated that “it remains unlikely that Mississippi will copy other states that have legalised some form of internet gaming”.

All forms of online gambling are currently illegal in the state and the study has researched the performance of online gambling in the three US states where it is regulated.

The new bill calls for prison sentences for those caught playing on illegal sites and any property that can be traced to illegal online gambling could be confiscated.